"Okay," says Val. "The party trick's called iethat, somebody who can do it is an ithue, and either a third of Sessiakitsi can do it or a third can't, I always forget which way around it is. I can, Mom and Ike can't, I guess that slightly implies that it's the first one. Also Sessiakitsi, even half-humans, need a lot of heavy metals in our diet - if you visit Siathe, apart from all the other reasons it'd be a good idea to take me or Ike with you, we can tell you what local food you can eat without poisoning yourself. Uh, come to think of it, I bet that's another reason there's not too much immigration between the worlds. You guys would get poisoned and we'd get the chromium equivalent of scurvy."

"I will mind that I don't indiscriminately eat things if and when I visit," says Bella. "What are the other reasons it'd be a good idea to have an escort?"

"Because you will weird people out," says Val. "Not as much as a Sessiaki walking around Earth in broad daylight, but some. Whereas me and Ike have family there, so it's not so bad, and anyway I can just wave a tentacle and everybody's pretty much cool with me."

"I suppose I could go all illusiony but that would probably create more problems than it would solve. Are we talking weirding them out as in attention and questions, or as in torches and pitchforks, or as in discomfort and shunning?"

"Do not fake iethat," says Val. "Do not fake iethat. It would be a bad idea to fake iethat. Don't do it."

"...Okay, that wasn't actually the illusion I had in mind, but all right, why not?"

"Um," she says, "it's kind of a cultural thing? Actually, don't illusion yourself to look like a Sessiaki either, it'll keep random strangers from staring at you but it'll come off as weird and rude and weird once you start talking to people - but definitely don't fake iethat. Iethat's important. And you'd have no idea how to treat it, and you probably couldn't shake tentacles with anybody, and it's just a really bad idea, okay?"

"So, pretty much, I was right about it causing more problems than it would solve," Bella says.

"Yep," says Val. "You're not gonna get torches and pitchforks as a human, but you might get something like it if you pretended to be an ithue."

"I dunno, I can do a really good impression of something warranting torches and pitchforks without doing more than a couple tweaks to what I actually look like... Okay. Will not pretend to be Sessiaki or any sort of mix or anything."

"Oh, if I do that party trick my eyes glow and little bits of fire that doesn't actually burn anything pop up all over me, but most of the effect is something else, not visual," says Bella, waving a hand. "Also it is a scary party trick, I'm saving it for the mean demons who are more inclined to, like, challenge me to single combat before they'll talk to me or things like that."

"I will totally challenge you to single combat if that's your speed," says Val.

"It's really not," snorts Bella. "I'm good in a fight, but I'm much more disposed to cheating than good Slayery sportsmanship."

"Okay," says Val. "I will also take any challenges to single combat that might come your way, unless they're from like, gods."

"If you're that keen on it and the relevant challenges have affordances for substituting champions and my boyfriend doesn't insist on doing it himself, I will consider asking you."

"Cool," says Val.

"You like singly combating people?"

"I haven't done a whole lot of it, but y'know, it sounds like fun."

"Sparring can be fun. Fighting for your life, not so much. I'm not sure where most forms of demonic single combat fall on that scale. But I promise that if you fall in my defense I will fetch you out of Downside."

"Cool," shrugs Val.

Bella smiles. "So, since it's looking like your mom doesn't wanna talk to me, when would be a good time for you to show me around Siathe?"

"I'll ask Ike. We can email you," she says. "Do dead ex-Slayers do email?"

"I do email! I also do telepathy network, do you guys want in on the telepathy network? It's called a brainphone."

"Sign me up!"